Fading Away
by MewBladeXxX
Summary: As the darkness stays, he clutches on the smallest crack of hope that it will stay forever, and he can rest, and so can Blue. He breathes out a sigh, and tips his head back. He feels like he's fading away. He hopes it will stay that way.


******Mew: This is like set in game, and between game. Red and Blue have been in too many games for my tastes. So, this is a take on what I think they feel, from the beginning, and traveling on. Enjoy~**

**Fading Away**

Creation.

It's the first thing he knows, as he opens his eyes to murky darkness for the first time. He struggles up, standing slowly, blinking. He turns a bit too quickly when he hears a strange sound and suddenly -

Something's covering his eyes. _Hat,_ he thinks, automatically. _It's red and white. _After the thought passes, he reaches up to touch it. Even though he hasn't seen it yet, he somehow knows.

He remembers why he turned in the first place, and adjusts his hat accordingly to see.

It's another boy, with wild, out of the place hair. _Blue, _he thinks, again, automatically. _The boy's name is Blue. He is my rival. _

Apparently, the boy had also been thinking the same thing. "Red?" he rasps quietly, and he blinks.

_My name is Red, _Red thinks, before he fades away to whiteness.

* * *

He wakes up to a white, blindingly so, ceiling. His mind is numb, cold, but he still manages to think. He cannot seem to control his movements, but is still walking around nicely.

He's going to Oak's lab. He's receiving his first Pokemon. He knows that, but yet he still can't seem to form coherent sentences. He can't talk at all - he's like a puppet on a string.

Finally, at long last finally, he somehow reaches Prof. Oak's lab. And there, both much to his surprise and not, he sees Blue. He sneers, although he seems confused himself. Red sees it in his eyes, but Blue doesn't let it show in his voice.

_What's going on? _The spiky hair boy seems to be saying silently. But all the same, he mocks Red as the said boy chooses his Pokemon.

After that, everything seems like a dream. He travels through the Kanto region, with his partner, which seems to be Bulbasaur. Blue's got a Charmander, and despite the type advantage, Red seems to pull off a win every single time.

He gets stronger and stronger, eventually managing to beat the Elite Four. Blue's beat him to the punch though - he's already the Champion. Red's not fazed; he's foreseen this coming for a long time. Beating Blue seems to be much harder to beat this time, but Red still manages. Blue's bitter with defeat, but before Red can do any condolence to the angry boy, he's fading away, just as Blue is, before his very eyes.

Red's last act is to gaze at the startled Blue, and they take comfort in knowing what happens to them will happen to the other, and they will not be alone.

He wakes again, opening his eyes to that murky darkness he's seen once before. He's exactly same as before, and so is Blue. The time spent in the murky darkness is longer than before, and Blue mellows out a bit, and Red notices that he's less closed mouthed than before. It's not long though, before they fade out to nothingness again, and like before, a jolt of fear shoots through his chest before everything becomes blindingly numb.

* * *

His eyes open slowly, to a white ceiling. He stands, not shakily like last time, but with confidence. His stride falters though, when he familiar sights assault his vision, and time seems to have been turned back a year or two. He's getting his first Pokemon again... Hasn't that already happened?

Nonetheless, Red's not one to question things, and as such, he traces his long gone footsteps back to Professor Oak's lab, and as he expects, Blue is there.

The mellowness from the time spent in the darkness with Red seems to have gone, and he's back to his arrogant self again. He doesn't seem to mean it as he did the last time this all happened - the venom in his tone is gone.

Red expects to see the three starters lying in wait for them, but he's surprised when Blue nags Professor Oak for an Eevee that Red himself was supposedly have to have gotten, but he's not too upset when he receives a Pikachu in condolence.

He takes the Pikachu, again traveling around the Kanto region in a deja vu like state. Blue's got his Eevee, and things seem to have been changed, although Red doesn't know why.

As Red nears the Pokemon League, Blue's somehow once again beaten him to the punch, and has received the title of Pokemon Champion. He gazes evenly at Red as he approaches. Blue knows what's going to happened, and so does Red.

It doesn't take long for Red to defeat Blue. His rival's heart didn't seem into the battle, he seemed much too hesitant to fight. But before Red can ask what's wrong, they're fading away again.

* * *

He's reluctant to open his eyes - he already knows what he's going to see. He's not disappointed either, in a sense. Blue's looking at him, sitting on the ground. But, as Red sits up and becomes more and more readily alert, something's different.

There are two more boys this time, one with bright red hair, a flaming color almost, and black clothes. He seems a bit shady to Red, but honest enough. The other is dark blue haired, almost black, and a tuft of it sticks through his gold and black streaked baseball hat.

Red suddenly knows that he's no longer needed to travel, that who he's looking at now is the dependent to travel.

"My name is Ethan," The baseball capped boy says. The red haired boy says nothing, just eyes Red suspiciously.

Blue's watching on with interest, and Red can see in his eyes that he knows full well that they're being replaced in a sense. Finally, now, perhaps they can rest, as Ethan and the other boy fade from their sight. Red opens his mouth, now that the freedom of speech has presented itself to him in this dark prison. No words come out though, as they start fading out too.

* * *

_Red,_

_You are now officially the Kanto Champion. You have been chosen as the rightful owner of the title. You are to stand atop Mt. Silver, and accept challenges from trainers brave enough to fight their way to the top and challenge you. You are to use the Pokemon provided._

_From, the Pokemon League Association. _

Red shivers slightly as the snow swirls around him and the wind howls ominously. His fingers twitch - fingerless gloves hardly helping - slowly loosing warmth as his body burns.

Pokeballs are scattered at his feet as he slowly picks them up. One by one, they pop open as he pushes the white button. Red blinks the snow out of his eyes as he looks at his new team.

Pikachu, Espeon, Snorlax, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise.

Pikachu, Espeon, and Venusaur look extremely uncomfortable in the upcoming of what would surely be a blizzard. Pikachu sneezes, before scampering up Red's shoulder, huddling in the crook of his neck for warmth. Blastoise winces at the freezing gale. Red knows why – it must be well below freezing point.

Espeon mews pitifully, struggling through the ankle deep snow and slush to Charizard, who snorts in contempt, looking at it in some kind of pity, before letting Espeon curl up near its tail. Venusaur doesn't move in the slightest; just huddles down the best it can. Snorlax ignores the cold almost completely, although it fidgets uncomfortably.

Red clears his throat to say something, but blinks in confusion as he realizes he can't speak in the slightest. He frowns, but accepts the fact stoically.

Briefly, he wonders where Blue is, and what he's doing at the moment. Was he placed somewhere nice? Red knows Blue doesn't have the best tolerance to abrupt temperature changes; hopefully he isn't somewhere extremely hot or cold. Red doesn't mind too much about his current situation. He's more worried about his Pokemon; how could they battle in this situation?

For the moment, he decides to recall all his Pokemon, but Pikachu doesn't seem to want to go back to the warmth of the Pokeball. He frowns, as he chases the little yellow rodent around for a few minutes, but Pikachu evades capture, even shocking him once or twice.

After long last, he blows out a frosty breath, sighing as Pikachu ran back up his arm, curling up in the crook of his neck, where it was apparently warmer than the rest of him.

And so Red waited, patiently, easily enduring the cold, although once or twice his Pokemon caught cold despite the fact that Red hardly let them out, only doing so for necessary exercise.

Hardly anyone came up the mountain, although he had seen the dark blue haired boy – Ethan, was it? – once or twice. Even the red haired boy once, who seemed to have been named Silver, although Red could guess why. His eyes were a deep monochrome silver grey color, defying the flaming red color of his hair.

One day, Silver came up, much to Red's surprise. The boy was quite unreadable, doing things at random times, coming up unpredictably.

"Red, I, Silver, challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

Red was quite impressed at Silver's persistence, although Ethan's was hardly something to laugh at. Red's calendar was quite skewed; perhaps he came once a week? No matter.

He looks at Silver monotonously, pulling out Snorlax's Pokeball. Silver took this as a challenge acceptation, and threw out his Feraligatr.

Red had managed to beat two of Silver's Pokemon without taking casualties himself, when everything abruptly turned black.

* * *

"Ow..." Red groans before blinking in surprise. He rolls over to shake Blue, who was lying prone beside him. "Blue...?" His voice is hesitant, and raspy from lack of use. He coughs to clear his throat.

Blue rolls onto his side, and suddenly, Red noticed, that past him, was a girl, who was sitting up and staring curiously.

Blue blinked, staring back. "Who're you?" He asks, voice hoarse.

Much to their surprise, the girl glares belligerently. "My name's Leaf," she growls, then giggles. "Haha! You look so startled!" She stands, brushing off her red skirt. She adjusts her hat. "So, where are we?"

Red and Blue didn't answer immediately, as both boys have noticed something has changed this time around.

Blue tugs on his black shirt, moving his waistband until it rests comfortably on his right side. He glares at his purple jeans before looking at Red. "This is tacky," he admits, looking uncomfortable in his own skin.

Red shrugged, frowning when he notices his hair is... Brown. Admittedly, not like a light color, like Blue's hair, but a darker color, like Leaf's. He also has new clothing – vest, hat, and a new backpack. He shrugs, liking the way it rolls on his shoulders. "... Dunno."

Blue snorts in derision. "Well you're not wearing _purple_ pants for heaven's sake!"

Red shrugs again, when Leaf speaks up once more. "He-llo? I'm still here. Where are we?"

Red looks around in the murky darkness, preferring to shrug rather than speak. After all that time of silence, it's become a habitual method of speech.

Blue scowls. "You're so quiet!" He looks around. "I... I'm not sure." He sounds confused now. "This is where we were... Created, for a better lack of term."

Leaf nods. "I see. You've been here before?"

Red nods in turn. "... Few times," he grunts. His voice was still hoarse, and he suddenly wished he had some water.

... He certainly didn't expect it when a torrent of water to come out of nowhere, soaking himself and his clothes.

Blue and Leaf blink before bursting out in raucous laughter. Red merely scowls, shaking out his vest and hair. "... Shut up."

Blue just laughs all the harder. "How did you do that?" He says, his voice an octave higher. He blushes, before clearing his throat.

Red shrugged. "... I wanted water."

Blue looks around. "Hey! I want a T.V.!"

Nothing happens. Blue scowls. Leaf laughs at him, while Red smirks.

A few moments of silence passed, which Red broke.

"... We haven't disappeared," he mutters quietly.

Blue sobers. "I wonder why?"

Leaf looks at them curiously.

Red shakes his head. They were fading alright; Blue just hadn't noticed. Before Red fades completely though, he says something that surprises them all.

"We'll fight back this time," he growls, before the pixels shatter into oblivion.

* * *

Anyone who played the FireRed and LeafGreen versions could have sworn Red's eyes glowed with an intensity not seen in the original games. Leaf was unpredictable, and Blue was a better, stronger, rival. Yet it was no use, as they approached the finale of the game.

They were allowed one last reunion, in which they would remember forever.

Leaf ran up to them, smiling. Red's grim, for some reason, while Blue seems more open hearted, although the tension's tight in his face.

She merely looks at Red, Blue, and then laughs. "Good job," she whispers. She's been allowed the freedom to speak, along with Blue this time, although Red still cannot. He prefers it that way now.

They stare at each other for a minute, but it feels like the longest time. Blue breaks the silence.

"This feeling..." His arm twitches, but he is unable to move it. A barely comprehensible look of frustration comes across his face before he speaks again, not looking at Red, but addressing him nonetheless. "It's time again, isn't it?"

Red says nothing, but the look on his face confirms Blue's suspicion.

Leaf seems confused. "What time?" she asks, before gasping, shrieking in terror and confusion. "What's happening to me?" she wails in terror.

Blue and Red react violently, as Leaf's disappearing more rapidly than they ever have, pixels flying off her being and evaporating into white digital dust, before their eyes.

Translucent tears shimmer in her eyes. "What's going on?" she wails, scared. Her eyes beg the boys for comfort. "You guys are fading too!"

Red's frozen to his spot – why can't he move? He tries to comfort Leaf through communicating with his eyes, as he always has, but she's too scared to comprehend, even to look at him for more than two seconds.

Blue seems shocked, but he manages to reach out and lay a hand on Leaf's fast disappearing arm. "It's alright," he chokes out. "You're gonna be fine, we'll see each other again – promise!"

Leaf looks at him with a tear filled gaze, as she finally disappears, and the two boys were left silent and dumbfounded. Neither spoke as both their worlds went dark simultaneously.

* * *

It's not for a long, long while that they wake, and they take the rest gratefully. They stay in their place which is somewhere, floating somewhere in the grayness – they can't tell whether it's black, or if it's white. They subconsciously know what's happening around them; two people appeared, although their visages are blurry, and unreadable.

They can both feel that Leaf is not with them, but both ignore the fact, preferring to feel numb instead of the stinging pain of a broken promise. Blue's especially affected, Red can tell.

It's not until the two that appeared earlier have come and gone that they start stirring again. They wake unwillingly, with sleep filled eyes and addled minds.

"I wish..." Blue's the first to speak. His head lolls back, before he gives a noise between a sigh and a groan. He pulls himself together to stare at Red. Red looks blankly at Blue. "Isn't our time over?" Blue whispers. Both Blue and Red know what's going on now. They just don't want to admit it.

Red just shrugs. He has no words to say, although he's able to now. He's about to lay back and close his eyes when he notices something.

He looks a little bit different; his hat's pulled over one of his eyes, and his hair's very nearly smothered by the red and white cap. Blue has a completely different set of clothes, although he hasn't noticed because his eyes are actually closed. He seems to be wearing cargo pants, a gray jacket, and a white undershirt.

Red reaches over to tap him on the shoulder, but before he can... Pixels fly, and they vanish.

* * *

Red groans silently when he notices where he is. Snow, rock... He's standing on a cliff, for heaven's sake. He ignores the snow and hail that falls around him – that one time he was forced to stand on this blasted mountain, for he's sure it's the same one, he had acclimated to the cold.

There's a note, an envelope, lying in the snow. He picks it up, before throwing it over the chasm. He didn't need to read it; not when it was the same letter. He pulled out his Pokeballs and threw them.

Pikachu, Lapras, Snorlax, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. Red nods, before frowning. Lapras? Didn't he have Espeon before?

He did, he realizes, and he notices another thing while he's at it. Pikachu's wrapped around a sparkling yellow ball, hugging it happily.

He shrugs. Lapras is looking extremely uncomfortable, simply lying on the snow. There's no water around for miles; how in the world does the Pokemon League Association expect him to take care of a Lapras without water? Red stayed emotionless; at least, he does outwardly.

Venusaur still shivers, although he seems just slightly better off than before. Red remembers Venusaur nearly froze into an ice block the last time. Charizard seems alright; Snorlax is now completely ignorant to the cold. Blastoise withdraws himself into his shell, and stays like that.

Red sighs, returning his Pokemon. He can do nothing about it but wait; he is helpless, hapless to do anything about it like last time. He can only wait and see what happens...

He was right, Red realizes. That Ethan kid is back, and so is Silver, although the latter seems somewhat different. He's a bit more closed off than before, perhaps a bit more cold. He snarls when he loses, and Red wonders where the slightly more mellow Silver went.

He sit, waits, while Ethan comes again and again, and constantly beats Red. He seemed harried, exhausted even. Each time, he shoots Red a pained glance, before leaving.

Red knows what he's feeling. It's happened to him times before – it happens to him now. The anger, the rage of being used, over and over.

So it is when he notices the scenery around him disappearing that he feels a smile well up within him. He sighs, and gives way to utter darkness.

* * *

For the longest time, he feels nothing, absolutely nothing at all. The numb feeling comes, and stays, and Red is glad. He doesn't know how much more he can take. Over and over they come, pixels form, and pixels fly, creation and destruction.

The last time he saw Blue seems like a century ago, and for all Red knows, it might have been. He misses his rival, funnily enough. His sarcastic comments, his smirking smile. He misses Leaf, her cheerfulness, and regrets that he didn't get to know her more. She spent more time with Blue than she did with him.

As the darkness stays, he clutches on the smallest crack of hope that it will stay forever, and he can rest, and so can Blue. He breathes out a sigh, and tips his head back.

He feels like he's fading away.

He hopes it will stay that way.

* * *

**Mew: So, did you like it? The 'rest' at the end is the DPP and BW arc. They haven't reached the BW2 arc yet. Please, review! **


End file.
